Record Harvest Pace Continues

The numbers for the corn harvest progress so far are staggering in some states.

“We continue to see some respectable to even record setting harvest progress for both corn and soybeans,” said USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey of the latest harvest progress report. For corn, “we see harvest passing the three quarters mark for the week ending October 14 to reach 79 percent, more than twice the five year average of 38 percent.”

For the Corn Belt states, Missouri takes the lead with 95 percent of the corn crop harvested, compared to 66 percent normal for this time of year. So, that’s just about 30 percentage points ahead of average, but look at the other states. North Dakota has 84 percent harvested, which is a whopping 70 points ahead of normal. South Dakota with 90 percent complete is up 68 points compared to the five-year average. Minnesota has 90 percent harvested also, compared to 27 percent average, Iowa is 57 points ahead of the average with 87 percent harvested and Nebraska is running 54 points ahead of schedule with 80 percent complete. In Illinois, 87 percent of the corn is harvested, but that’s only 34 points ahead of normal.

The soybean harvest is also roaring along a breakneck speed, with over 70 percent harvested with Minnesota, North and South Dakota virtually done already. So, it may not be the best of years for production, but at least farmers are getting the harvest behind them quickly so they can focus on next year!